A note for the small, silent and significant.

Living under New York City’s unyielding yet glorious skyline; surrounded by a tidal wave of luxurious apartments and chain stores; hiding behind the city’s image as a smooth, sleek and expensive giant, are the flat roof tops that are contained in the context of ‘small scale’ and ‘local identity’ and made to draw the line at just housing the famous wooden water-towers.

During my brief stay in New York in June, I had the opportunity to interview Architect Michael Sorkin. Penning this interview was a profound experience for me as I walked through 45 years of his journey as an Architect, Urban Planner, and Theorist.

Girls around the world are subjected to various injustices, and child marriage is one such. ‘The Little Palanquin’, like this picture of a girl looking at the teary eye, is a short story that aims at emphasising the importance of empowerment that will help our girls to look back at this injustice as a defunct thing of the past.

For anyone visiting Pune today, Shinde Chhatri is a beautiful memorial that embodies the glorious legend of Mahadji Shinde. But a few years ago, it was a dilapidated and abandoned monument like its many counterparts, some of which are still waiting for their revival. Some how, the more we overlook this callousness, the more strongly it spreads its roots on these invaluable pieces of history.

Shinde Chhatri, in Pune, is a memorial dedicated to the 18th century military leader Mahadji Shinde who was one of the three pillars of Maratha Resurrection in India. This note is about the interaction between the archway and window in the picture, that reflect the defiance and strength of memory against mortality.

A tedious 400′ climb from the village of Bhaja takes the interested few to the magnificent Bhaja Caves that were sculpted in the 2nd century. Although they were created in a time that might have a seemingly insignificant impact on the present, the cave effortlessly opens the mind of the explorer to the magic of a period they might not be able to visit otherwise.

Every girl who is made to measure herself against the standards set by the society, is put in a painful place where she seems insufficient to herself. Consequently, her uniqueness becomes a burden that she’d hope will someday disappear. The protagonist of the story, ‘Balamani’ whose name translates to ‘Little Girl’ in Sanskrit, might be any child whose happiness is threatened by the set standards. Regardless of who she is or where she is from, it is our collective responsibility as a society to break those standards and pave way for a healthy body image.

‘Cinderella Stole My Slippers’ is a tribute to all the little girls, who were trapped in this fallacy but found the strength to escape it and embrace their uniqueness.

By virtue of its purpose, The Sun Temple in Modhera has always connected with the lives of common people by both receiving and giving. In this picture, as a lady walks by observing the intricacies of the monument, the shape of the ornate pilasters seem to have been inspired by the flare of her saree.

In their candid state, the sandstone steps of the Sun Temple in Modhera that reflect the process of their evolution through having stood the test of time, produce the kind of iridescence that stays for one to touch.

Built entirely of sandstone, The Sun Temple in Modhera is a beautiful gift from hundreds of years ago, to the modern day India. In this picture, as a young women stops to admire the ornate carvings on the archway, the efforts of the artisans who created this marvel and the virtue of their work from centuries ago, are momentarily glorified.

Like the boy in the picture -who is making the best out of the view before him, despite the squalid land he is standing on- the world is full of people who find happiness in the toughest of times. The Wondrous Common is my tribute to the wonderful people who are united by their optimism, despite their struggles.